Method of and mold for casting steel ingots having iron centers



(No Model.)

J. PEDDER.

METHOD OF AND MOLD FOR CASTING STEEL INGOTS HAVING IRON CENTERS.

No. 2'78,593. Pateht ay 29,1883.

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N, PETEH$ PEctn-Lilhngraplw. Whhinglcn.

NITED STATE PATENT OFFICE;

l Jon PEDDnR, or PITTSBUBG, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF AND MOLDFOR CASTING STEEL ING OT S HAVING IRON CENTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters retentive. 278,593, dated May 29,1883.

Application filed retinal- 27, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN PEDDER, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State or Pennsylvanimhave invented a new and use fulImprovement inMethods of and Molds for Forming Cast- Steel Ingots HavingIron Genters; andI do hereby declare the following to r to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to theaccompanyingdrawings, forminga part of this specification, in which-,- i

Figure Lisa perspective view of an improved i got-mold illustrating inyinventioncrucibles, and to the ingot-moldsinwhich these ingots are cast,The'molds heretofore employed for this; purpose were provided withsuitable lugs for holding the plate of iron or softsteel in theJcenterof the mold. After the insertion, of the, center plate the steelcontained in one/crucible was ,then teemed by a melter on eachside" ofthe plate, there being I r V 4.0

inc opportunity forythe steel from these crucibles to interniingle,except around the small space atthe sides of. the center plate, whichwouldbe quickly closed by the chilling of the steel against the surfaceof themold. As it is practically impossible to regulate exactly theamount or proportion of 1 carbon in steel formed in crucibles, it isgenerally foundthat the steel on one side of 'theplate difiers from fireone-hundredths to twenty-flue one-hundredths of one per cent. in carbonfrom that on the other side of the plate; and on account of thedifference in ductility of the steel on either side of the centerplatethe rolled plate formed from the'ingotwould generally beexoeedinglyragged or, broken at the. ends and sides, causingalarge-waste in the plate. k The plates formed from these iron orsoft-steel-center ingots are. principally employed for the formation ofagricultural implements- -suchas .50. mold-boards for plows,cultivator-shovels,

&c.-which-arebent to peculiar shapes and then tempered; and it has beenfound that on both sides of thecenter plate contains the same orpractically the same proportion of carbon, even though the steel in thetwo crucibles employed in forming the ingot differ in carbomand thus tofully overcome the objections above referred to.

It'consists,'first, in forming these ingots by I teeming the steel fromtwo or more crucibles on thesame side of the center plate in such mannerthat it will be thoroughly commingled while at a high heat and assumethe same or about the sam'edegree ofcarbon throughout,

and the heated steel so commingledwill pass to the other side of thecenter plate and form the finished ingot; second, in amold for fOI'lD:ing these ingots in which. the center plate fits closely against orwithin the end of the mold, and which has an opening below the plate. topermit the melted and commingled steel to pass, from theside in which itis teemed tothe other side of the plate; third, in certain improvementsin the means of securing together the two halves ofthe partibleingotmold p and, fourth, in certain improvements in the method ofsecuringthe ingot-mold to overcome warpage. Y r

' To enableothers skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill describethe same more fully; g

In thedrawings referred to, A represents myimproved in got-mold, formedin two halves, a a, and having the base-plate l), The two halves ofthemold are joined by the rabbetjoints 0 to retain them against endwisemotion, 7

of each lugd is grooved horizontally for its reception, as at g, or lugsextending horizontally along its top and bottom edges are formed for thesame purpose. The inner face, 70, of each lug is inclined outwardly fromthe body of the mold, topresent a better face for knocking the mold.apart after the casting of the ingot. Extending down the center of eachend of the mold is the groove 1 for the reception. of the center plate.This groove is generally made at the junction of the two halves, so thatthe plate will not interfere with the opening of themold after thecasting of the ingot. This manner of centering theplate is preferred byme, though the only requisite is, that the plate fit close against theends of the mold, and prevent the melted steel from passing around thesides of the plate, and the plate may be centered by a groove in thebase-plate, instead of grooves in the ends, and between lugs at the topof each end of the mold. However the center plate is centered, the baseplate?) of the mold has a concave recess, m,

formed across its upper surface, to permit the melted metal to pass fromone side of the center plate under it'to the other side of the plate,andthus form'the ingot. This recessm is inadesufliciently large topermit the metal to flow readily under the platetand where thebase-plate is grooved, as above I described, to centerthe center plate,the recess is formed correspondingly deeper than'the groove. 7Insteadofrecessingthe base-plate,the groove forthe reception ot' thecenter plate may be made to extend nearly but not quite to the bottomofthe mold proper, and 'so' support the plate suffioiently above thebase-plate as top'ermit the melted steel to pass under it, or the centerplate may be otherwise supported above the base-plate for the samepurpose.

In carrying on my improved process the partible mold A, resting onthebase-plate b,i's fastened together, the links 0 being fitted overthe-lugs d and the wedges f driven in to clamp the two halves a a of thepartible mold together. The iron or soft-steel center plate, previouslyscaled by an acid bath or other means, is dropped into the longitudinalgroove I, thus dividing the mold into two chambers,

11 with a connecting opening below the center plate. The melters then atthe same time teem the melted steel from two or more crucibles,according to the size of the mold, into the chamber 19 on one side ofthe center plate,

and as the metal is at a white heat, and is thoroughly commingled by thepouring, the

. carbon from the more highly carbonized metal passes over to thathaving less carbon, so that the whole mass becomes the same orapproximately the same in carbon, and after so commingling passes intothe chamber 11 on the other side of the center plate, rising in thatchamber, and thus forming an ingot the caststeel of which is the same orpractically the same in carbon throughout. Instead of arranging the moldin such manner that the commingled steel passes below the plate into 2erases cessity of battering up the top of the molds,

this beingthe previous method of opening the molds.

Practical experience has fully proven that ingots formed as abovedescribed roll more evenly, fo r ming square or almost square ends tothe plate formed, and that the plates so rolled, being the same incarbon on each side, have no tendency to warp or draw out of. shape whentempered, so that they can be bent to whatever shape desired andtempered without losing that shape.

I find the lugs, links, and wedges a rapid and convenient means ofsecuring together the partible mold, as the links can be easily placedaround and are supported by the lugs; and vby meansot the wedges drivenbetween thelinksahd lugs the two halves can be easily and quicklysecured together, even where, on

account of the warping of the molds or from other cause, the lugs do notcome exactly opposite each other. 1 am also enabled by their use toentirely do away. with the serious warpand wedges at the corners lei'tunconnected at the last casting-as, for instance, the upper right-handcorner and the lower left-hand corner -and the warping at this castingwill draw lid O the mold back to its original shape. By em ploying thismethod the mold may always be kept in proper shape for use, and neednever be abandoned on account of warping, this being often the casewithother molds, because they give a greater thickness of steel at certainpoints on one side of the center plate than atthe other, and the platesformedfrom the ingot will warp on this account.

, Before my invention partible ingot-molds have been formed with ribsextending along theirjoining edges, the two halves being securedtogether by clips or double hooks fitting around and driven down theseribs, the outer sides of which were slightly inclined. Tn'ese doublebooks were, however, difficult to use,

278,593 a t a 3 asit was necessary to employ different lengths wedgesand clamp the half-molds together with the same-sized links and withoutsupporting the links, and the half-molds canbe secured together evenwhere the warping throws the lugs out of proper position. As

there is' no spring to the links, they also look the-half-molds sosecurely together as to prevent springing in case of the sudden expansion of the mold, or, if pressure is applied, to compress the steeltherein.

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is;-

1. The method herein described of forming cast-steel ingots having ironor soft-steelcenters, consistinguin teeming the steel from two or morecrucibles on one'side of the center i plate in such manner that it willcommingle,

and then causing the commingled metal to flow to the other side of thecenter plate, substantial-ly as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. A mold for forming cast-steel ingots having iron or soft-steelcenters,having the center plate fitting against or within the sides ofthe mold, and an opening below the plate, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. A mold for forming cast-steel ingots having iron or soft-steelcenters, provideclwith a longitudinal groove at each end for thereception of the center plate, and a recess in the base-plate,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4.- In partible ingot-molds, the combination of the half-molds a a,having the lugs 11 extending horizontally beyond the ends thereof,

the links 6, adapted to fit around and be supported on the lugs, and theWedges f, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The method herein described of overcoming the warpage in ingot-molds,consisting in securing the mold at the corners diagonally oppositeduring the casting of one ingot, and securing itat thecorners-diagonally opposite those corners during the casting of the nextingot, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. i

In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN PED- DER, have hereunto set myhand.

JOHN PEDDER.

Witnesses:

F. G. KAY, JAMES I. KAY.

